The Concert Hall is one of the historical park pavilions located in the landscape part of the Catherine Park, in the former Tsarskoye Selo (now the Pushkin city of St. Petersburg).
The concert hall was built in 1782-1788 by the architect Giacomo Quarenghi, who described the structure as "a hall for music with two offices and an open temple dedicated to the goddess Ceres".
Since the pavilion was conceived as a temple of Ceres, this was confirmed by the panel "Sacrifice to Ceres", located in a large hall with a statue of the goddess in the portico of the temple, in front of which there is an altar.
Initially, the pavilion was called the "Temple of Friendship", but since 1788, at the request of Catherine II, it became known as the " Music Hall "or"Concert Hall".
Such artists as D. Scotti, D. Valesini, F. Danilov, I. Krist, D. Kades, and I. Bogdanov worked on the picturesque decoration of the pavilion's interiors.
The hall is located on a small island in the southwestern part of the Catherine Park. It has the forms of strict classicism; it is considered one of the masterpieces of Russian landscape architecture of the last third of the 18th century; it is among the monuments of world cultural heritage and is under the protection of UNESCO.
The concert hall has a rectangular shape.
One facade of the building is decorated with a four-column portico with a triangular pediment, and the other (on the opposite side) - a projecting rotunda of ten columns, covered with a low dome. The walls at the back of the rotunda are decorated with bas-reliefs on mythological subjects, the work of the sculptor M. I. Kozlovsky.
The walls of the pavilion are smooth, with window openings and a stucco frieze with garlands and heads of sacrificial bulls in the upper part of the building.
The interior of the Concert Hall has a large hall and two offices.
The interior of the hall is richly decorated with a variety of decorative finishes.
The walls of the great hall are lined with artificial marble, decorated with Corinthian pilasters, sculptural medallions and picturesque panels. The ceiling ceiling painting depicts Juno on a chariot and the Titan Kronos. The paduga (the decor between the walls and the ceiling) is decorated with lozenges with the signs of the zodiac, the sun and the month, written in grisaille.
Of particular value in the hall is the mosaic floor of the late 2nd-early 3rd centuries, brought to Tsarskoe Selo from Rome in 1784. The floor covering is made in a black-and-white mosaic depicting an episode of the myth of the abduction of Europa by Zeus, who took the form of a bull.
In the hall, stone vases and sculptural works are placed on pedestals - reproductions of ancient originals and several authentic antique busts that originally decorated the pedestals, but were almost completely lost during the Great Patriotic War.
Antique motifs are also used in the decoration of the Concert Hall's offices.
One of the cabinets is decorated with four bas-reliefs by the Italian sculptor C. Albani: allegories of architecture, painting, sculpture and science. And the other hall - painted panels with scenes of sacrifice.
The floors in the offices are laid out of marble slabs with ornamental mosaic inserts of Roman work of the late 1st-early 2nd centuries AD. The floors are painted with ornamental multicolored paintings.
Each of the offices is decorated with sculptures and has its own name: the eastern - "Sculpture office", the western - "Painting office". In the Sculptural Study there is an antique statue of the senator, which was previously located on the facade of the "Kitchen-ruins", and in the Picturesque One there are antique sculptures "Roman Matron" (II century AD) and "Aphrodite in the Gardens" (I century AD).
Next to the "Concert Hall" pavilion there is a detached building - The kitchen is a ruin, which was built to warm up meals for the guests of the Concert Hall and looks like an old antique monument. However, the pavilion was aged initially and on purpose. Learn more about the ruin kitchen…
Practical information
The Concert Hall pavilion is open to visitors in the summer.
The concert hall is located in Catherine Park, Pushkin, St. Petersburg.
Catherine Park with pavilions, together with Catherine's Palace, belong to the State Museum-Reserve "Tsarskoe Selo".
In the summer season (somewhere from the second half of April to mid-October), the entrance to the Catherine Park is paid.
In the Catherine Palace you can visit restored halls.
Tickets to the park, some of the pavilions of the park and the halls of the palace can be purchased at the box office, or in advance-online on the official website. The cost of tickets to the halls of the palace includes the cost of a ticket to the Catherine Park. Visits to the pavilions-museums of the park are not included in the price of the entrance to the park and in the ticket to visit the halls of the palace - are paid separately.
The opening hours of the park and the palace, as well as the conditions of the visit and the cost of tickets, we recommend that you check on the website of the State Museum-Reserve "Tsarskoe Selo": tzar.
You can visit Tsarskoye Selo with one of the excursions
In Pushkin, near the Catherine Park and the palace, you can stay
The 5-star Pevcheskaya Tower Hotel features restaurants, a bar, a rooftop observation deck, free Wi-Fi and parking.
Breakfast is included in the room rate. Link to the hotel
The 5-star luxury spa hotel "Tsar Palace Luxury Hotel & SPA"is located in a historic building.
The hotelfeatures a spa area with a swimming pool, a hammam, a salt sauna, a snow fountain, steam baths and a gym; free Wi-Fi, a 24-hour front desk, 2 restaurants, a lobby bar, private parking and meeting and conference rooms.
The rooms are equipped with climate control, a minibar, a safe and a private bathroom.
A buffet breakfast is included in the room rate. Link to the hotel
3-star hotel Ekaterina, located on the territory of the Catherine Palace and Park Ensemble.
At the hotel: 24-hour front desk, cafe, free Wi-Fi and parking.
Each room here will provide you with air conditioning, a TV, a work desk and free toiletries.
Breakfast is included in the room rate. Link to the hotel
All accommodation facilities in St. Petersburg, including in the city center and in Pushkin, can be viewed and booked here
